Gamification of health awareness based on sleep patterns

ABSTRACT

A user breeds a virtual life form by practicing good sleep habits and stays motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoying breeding the virtual life form. A game server manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life form, the game server including circuitry configured to acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Bypass Continuation of National Stage Application based onPCT/JP2019/036820, filed on Sep. 19, 2019, which claims priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2018-176957, filed on Sep. 21, 2018, theentire contents of each are incorporated herein by its reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a game server, a program, a method, agame system, and an information processing terminal.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, activity measurement devices that measure actions andan amount of activity of a person using a motion detection sensor or thelike that detects motions of a body have become widely used. An activitymeasurement device is designed to improve health awareness of a user bypresenting the user with an amount of activity or the like and isdesirably used on a continuous basis. For example, PTL 1 discloses aninvention that heightens a user's awareness toward health in the processof enjoying a breeding game of a virtual life form based on measuredbiological data.

[PTL 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-117639 SUMMARYTechnical Problem

However, the description in PTL 1 merely reflects a parameter based onautomatically-acquired biological data on the game and can hardlymotivate a user to make it a habit of leading a well-regulated lifestylein a continuous manner.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the problemdescribed above and an object thereof is to provide a game server, aprogram, a method, a game system, and an information processing terminalfor managing progress of a breeding game which enables a user to breed avirtual life form by leading a well-regulated lifestyle and,particularly, by practicing good sleep habits and which enables the userto stay motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoyingbreeding the virtual life form.

Solution to Problem

In order to achieve the object described above, a game server accordingto the present disclosure is a server that manages progress of abreeding game of a virtual life form, the game server including: anacquiring unit which acquires sleep data that at least includes a sleeppattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; a sleephistory storage unit which stores the acquired sleep data as a sleephistory; and a processing unit which executes processing steps relatedto the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.

In addition, in order to achieve the object described above, a programaccording to the present disclosure is a program that manages progressof a breeding game of a virtual life form, the program causing acomputer to function as: an acquiring unit which acquires sleep datathat at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and awake-up time of a user; a sleep history storage unit which stores theacquired sleep data as a sleep history; and a processing unit whichexecutes processing steps related to the breeding game based on thesleep pattern in the sleep history.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the object described above, a methodaccording to the present disclosure is a method of managing progress ofa breeding game of a virtual life form, the method including the stepsof: acquiring sleep data that at least includes a sleep patternindicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; storing the acquiredsleep data as a sleep history; and executing processing related to thebreeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.

In addition, in order to achieve the object described above, a gamesystem according to the present disclosure is a system in which a gameserver that manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life formand a user terminal are connected to each other via a network, whereinthe game server includes: an acquiring unit which acquires sleep datathat at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and awake-up time of a user; a sleep history storage unit which stores theacquired sleep data as a sleep history; and a processing unit whichexecutes processing steps related to the breeding game based on thesleep pattern in the sleep history.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the object described above, aninformation processing terminal according to the present disclosure isan information processing terminal that executes a breeding game of avirtual life form, the information processing terminal including: anacquiring unit which acquires sleep data that at least includes a sleeppattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; a sleephistory storage unit which stores the acquired sleep data as a sleephistory; and a processing unit which executes processing steps relatedto the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.

According to the present disclosure, since a user practicing awell-regulated lifestyle leads to the user breeding a virtual life form,the user can stay motivated toward practicing good sleep habits whileenjoying breeding the virtual life form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a game system 1.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a user terminal 100.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a game server 200.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing in the userterminal 100.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing processing in the game server 200.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of determination of areference sleep pattern.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a positive event.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a bonus event.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a negative event.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a game system 2.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a user terminal 300.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a detection example of a jet lag.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of information related toquality of sleep.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a user terminal 400.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings. In all of the diagrams for explainingthe embodiments, common components will be denoted by same referencesigns and repetitive descriptions will be omitted. It is to beunderstood that the following embodiments do not unduly restrict thecontents of the present disclosure as set forth in the scope of claims.In addition, not all components described in the embodiments areessential components of the present disclosure.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a game system 1. A configuration ofthe game system 1 according to the first embodiment will be describedwith reference to FIG. 1.

The game system 1 includes a user terminal 100 and a game server 200which are connected to be capable of communicating with each other via anetwork NW. The network NW is constituted by a WAN (Wide Area Network),a LAN (Local Area Network), or the like.

While only one user terminal 100 is shown in FIG. 1, in the presentembodiment, the game system 1 includes a plurality of user terminals 100of which each is provided for each user. The game system according tothe present embodiment enables the user to stay motivated towardpracticing good sleep habits in the process of enjoying a breeding gameof a virtual life form.

The user terminal 100 detects sleep data of the user and transmits thesleep data to the game server 200. The sleep data at least includes asleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of the user. Inthis case, a bedtime represents a time of day at which the user goes tosleep and may be, for example, a time of day at which the user goes tobed or a time of day at which the user's consciousness makes atransition from an awakened state to a state of sleep. In addition, awake-up time represents a time of day at which the user awakes and maybe, for example, a time of day at which the user gets out of bed or atime of day at which the user's consciousness makes a transition from astate of sleep to an awakened state. In the present embodiment, a pairof a bedtime and a wake-up time from going to sleep to waking up isreferred to as a sleep pattern.

The game server 200 is a game server that manages progress of a breedinggame of a virtual life form and provides a game service of breeding avirtual life form in accordance with a request from the user terminal100. For example, the game server 200 delivers a game program to theuser terminal 100 having accessed the game server 200 via the network NWand the game program is executed on the user terminal 100. The userterminal 100 having executed the game program transmits sleep data ofthe user to the game server 200.

The game server 200 acquires the sleep data from the user terminal 100and stores the sleep data as a sleep history. In addition, the gameserver 200 executes processing steps related to the breeding game basedon a sleep pattern based on the sleep history and a sleep pattern of theacquired sleep data, and transmits information related to the progressof the breeding game to the user terminal 100.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the user terminal 100detects sleep data of the user and transmits the sleep data to the gameserver 200. In addition, the game server 200 executes processing stepsrelated to the breeding game based on the sleep data and transmits aprocessing result to the user terminal 100. In other words, the user canstay motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoying abreeding game that uses sleep data of the user as game input.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of the user terminal 100. Alternatively, the user terminal100 according to the present embodiment may be configured by omitting apart of components (respective units) shown in FIG. 2.

The user terminal 100 is an information processing apparatus and, in thepresent embodiment, the user terminal 100 is, for example, a smartphone,a feature phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a portable game machine, a stationary game machine, a wearableterminal such as a head-mounted display, or a multifunctional devicesuch as a multifunctional television receiver (a smart television)equipped with an information processing function.

In other words, the user terminal 100 has various functions (forexample, an input function, an output (display) function, an informationprocessing function, a network communication function, a sensorfunction, a call function, and a camera function) which are included ina general multifunctional device.

The network communication function is a function that enablescommunication via the Internet or the like and/or a function thatenables communication via a mobile communication network. The userterminal 100 may be realized by installing a predetermined function inan existing multifunctional device. In the present embodiment, inaddition to being used as the multifunctional device described above,the user terminal 100 is used to detect the sleep data described aboveand to execute the breeding game described above.

The user terminal 100 includes a communicating unit 110, an input unit120, an output unit 130, a storage unit 140, a sensor unit 150, and aprocessing unit 160.

The communicating unit 110 performs various kinds of control forcommunicating with the game server 200 via the network NW and a functionthereof can be realized by hardware such as various kinds of processorsor a communication ASIC or by a program or the like.

The input unit 120 is an interface for accepting an input from the userand sends the user's input to the processing unit 160. For example, theinput unit 120 can be one or more of a touch panel, a button, amicrophone, and a controller. Alternatively, sensing data having beendetected by the sensor unit 150 to be described later may be used as aninput by the user. The user can perform an input related to the breedinggame via the input unit 120.

The output unit 130 is, for example, a display apparatus such as adisplay and/or an audio output apparatus such as a speaker, and displaysand/or outputs various kinds of images or audio generated by the userterminal 100 in accordance with an input with respect to the input unit120 or displays or outputs various kinds of images or audio based ondata received from the game server 200. The output unit 130 includes anartificial intelligence-mounted speaker (a smart speaker).

In addition, the output unit 130 may include an announcement functionfor prompting the user to wake up using a sound (such as an alarm),light, vibration, or the like. For example, when a reference wake-uptime (described in detail with reference to FIG. 6) arrives or thereference wake-up time approaches, the output unit 130 may output a callor a motion (vibration) of the virtual life form or output lightsuggestive of the virtual life form. Alternatively, the output unit 130may output a call of a virtual life form that differs from the virtuallife form being bred by the user or music related to an item or the likeso as to build up expectations of the user toward the progress of thegame. Accordingly, the user can be motivated to wake up in the morning.

The storage unit 140 is a storage apparatus for storing a program andvarious kinds of data that cause a computer to function. The storageunit 140 may include a temporary storage area or a storage.

The sensor unit 150 represents various kinds of devices that detectvarious states of the user terminal 100. For example, the sensor unit150 can be one or more of an altitude sensor (an acceleration sensor ora gyroscope sensor) that detects an altitude or an inclination of theterminal itself, an eye-gaze sensor that detects a direction of a lineof sight of the user, a photosensor that detects peripheral brightness,and an infrared sensor that detects a motion of the user. Alternatively,or additionally, the sensor unit 150 may be one or more of a microphonethat collects sound in the periphery of the user terminal 100, ahumidity sensor that detects humidity in the periphery of the userterminal 100, a geomagnetic sensor that detects a magnetic field at alocation where the user terminal 100 resides, and the like.

The sensor unit 150 may be configured to detect various kinds ofinformation using the sensor functions described above. For example, thesensor unit 150 may detect the number of steps walked by the user whoowns the user terminal 100 using the function of the accelerationsensor. Using the function of the acceleration sensor, the sensor unit150 may detect motion information indicating whether the user terminal100 is in motion or stationary or the like at regular intervals or everytime the user terminal 100 is operated. The sensor unit 150 sends thesensing data detected as described above to the processing unit 160.

The sensor unit 150 is an information processing terminal (a so-calledwearable terminal) which can be mounted to the user and which isconnected to the user terminal 100 so as to be capable of communicatingwith the user terminal 100 such as a wrist watch-type terminal or aring-type terminal. The sensor unit 150 may detect biological data ofthe user. For example, the sensor unit 150 determines a heart rate ofthe user by photoplethysmography or the like and sends the heart rate tothe processing unit 160 as sensing data. The sensing data detected bythe sensor unit 150 is not limited to the above and the sensor unit 150may detect biological data related to the user's sleep such asbreathing, pulse, or body motion.

The processing unit 160 executes various kinds of information processingto be executed in the user terminal 100. The processing unit 160 has aCPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory. In the user terminal 100,the various kinds of information processing described above are executedby having the CPU use the memory to execute an information processingprogram stored in the storage unit 140. In the present embodiment, asthe information processing described above, the processing unit 160executes a processing step of calculating sleep data, a processing stepof presenting the user with information related to the progress of thebreeding game having been received from the game server 200, and thelike. In addition, when the user terminal 100 operates as amultifunctional device, the processing unit 160 executes informationprocessing for realizing the respective functions. Furthermore, theprocessing unit 160 acquires a present time and date using a systemclock.

Based on the sensing data having been sent from the sensor unit 150, theprocessing unit 160 calculates a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime anda wake-up time of the user. In addition, the processing unit 160instructs the communicating unit 110 to transmit the sleep pattern tothe game server 200 as sleep data. It should be noted that the sleeppattern may be calculated using a function for analyzing sleep that isincluded in a general multifunctional device such as that describedabove, or the manner in which a bedtime and a wake-up time arecalculated may be configured by a developer of the breeding game or thelike. For example, a time at which the user performs an operation to putthe virtual life form to sleep in the breeding game may be set as thebedtime and a time at which the user performs an operation to awake thevirtual life form in the breeding game may be set as the wake-up time.As the operation to awake the virtual life form, for example, thevirtual life form being displayed on a display may be tapped or theterminal may be shaken. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted inwhich the processing unit 160 sends the sensing data having been sentfrom the sensor unit 150 to the game server 200 via the communicatingunit 110 and the game server 200 calculates a sleep pattern.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of the game server 200. Alternatively, the game server 200according to the present embodiment may be configured by omitting a partof components (respective units) shown in FIG. 3.

The game server 200 includes a communicating unit 210, an acquiring unit220, a storage unit 230, and a processing unit 240.

The communicating unit 210 performs various kinds of control forcommunicating with the user terminal 100 via the network NW and afunction thereof can be realized by hardware such as various kinds ofprocessors or a communication ASIC or by a program or the like.

The acquiring unit 220 acquires sleep data having been received by thecommunicating unit 210 from the user terminal 100 and sends the sleepdata to the storage unit 230.

The storage unit 230 is a storage apparatus for storing a program andvarious kinds of data that cause a computer to function. The storageunit 230 includes a sleep history 231 and game information 232.

The sleep history 231 functions as a sleep history storage unit andaccumulates sleep data of the user acquired by the acquiring unit 220or, in other words, a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-uptime of the user. The game information 232 stores information related tothe breeding game of the virtual life form. Alternatively, the storageunit 230 may include a temporary storage area or a storage. In addition,the storage unit 230 may be configured to store sensing data having beenreceived by the communicating unit 210 from the user terminal 100.

The processing unit 240 executes various kinds of information processingto be executed in the game server 200. The processing unit 240 has a CPUand a memory, and various kinds of information processing are executedby having the CPU use the memory to execute an information processingprogram stored in the storage unit 230. In the present embodiment, asthe information processing described above, the processing unit 240executes a processing step related to the breeding game based on a sleeppattern in the sleep history. In addition, the processing unit 240 mayexecute a processing step related to the breeding game based on variouskinds of information having been detected by the user terminal 100. Aprocessing result related to the breeding game is transmitted to theuser terminal 100. Alternatively, the processing unit 240 may performprogress processing of the breeding game in accordance with a randomnumber result that corresponds to acquired sleep data. Furthermore, theprocessing unit 240 acquires a present time and date using a systemclock.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, a “server” is a termthat means, in addition to a single information processing apparatus (inother words, a server apparatus), an entire server apparatus group (inother words, a server system) when a server is constituted by aplurality of server apparatuses. In addition, in the present embodiment,while the game server 200 will be described as an integral construction,the game server 200 may be a construction including a plurality ofserver apparatuses divided according to function and/or role. Forexample, the game server 200 may be a construction including a dataserver that stores sleep data acquired from the user terminal 100 and aservice server that provides a game service based on the sleep data.Furthermore, when the game server 200 performs a service of providing anitem as a part of the game service, the game server 200 may be aconstruction including a shop server that provides items and performsbilling.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing in the userterminal 100. An example of processing by the user terminal 100 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4. The user terminal 100 may use aninput operation by the user to the effect of going to bed as a triggerto start the processing. The input operation by the user to the effectof going to bed may be, for example, an operation of interrupting thebreeding game or an operation of putting the virtual life form to sleep(petting the virtual life form, turning off a light in a virtual spacebeing used by the virtual life form, or the like via the touch panel).In addition, sensing can be constantly executed by the sensor unit 150,in which case the user terminal 100 can detect that the user has gone tosleep based on sensing data (for example, a motion of the terminal orbrightness or audio in the periphery of the terminal). Furthermore, theuser may be prompted to go to bed by showing the virtual life form in adrowsy state or also turning the world inside the game into night as thereference bedtime (described in detail with reference to FIG. 6)approaches.

In step S401, the processing unit 160 of the user terminal 100 instructsthe sensor unit 150 to execute sensing. Specifically, the sensor unit150 senses a motion of the user terminal 100 or biological data of theuser such as a heart rate. The processing unit 160 acquires sensing datafrom the sensor unit 150.

In step S402, based on the sensing data having been sent from the sensorunit 150, the processing unit 160 determines whether or not a sleeppattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time can be calculated. Whenthe processing unit 160 determines that a sufficient amount of sensingdata that enables a sleep pattern to be calculated has not been acquired(N in step S402), the processing returns to step S401. Otherwise (Y instep S402), the processing unit 160 calculates a sleep pattern and theprocessing is advanced to step S403.

In step S403, the processing unit 160 instructs the communicating unit110 to transmit sleep data including the calculated sleep pattern to thegame server 200.

In step S404, the communicating unit 110 receives game informationhaving been transmitted from the game server 200 in accordance with thesleep data transmitted in step S403 and transmits the game informationto the processing unit 160.

In step S405, the processing unit 160 instructs the output unit 130 tooutput the game information received in step S404 and ends theprocessing.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing processing in the game server 200. Anexample of processing by the game server 200 will be described withreference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the game server 200 may use a receptionof sleep data from the user terminal 100 as a trigger to start theprocessing.

In step S501, the acquiring unit 220 of the game server 200 acquires,via the communicating unit 210, sleep data including a sleep patternthat indicates a bedtime and a wake-up time of the user having beentransmitted from the user terminal 100 and sends the sleep data to thestorage unit 230.

In step S502, the storage unit 230 stores the sleep data in the sleephistory 231 as a sleep history.

In step S503, the processing unit 240 determines whether or not a sleeppattern based on the sleep history stored in the sleep history 231satisfies a reference sleep pattern. The reference sleep pattern refersto a sleep pattern based on a reference bedtime and a reference wake-uptime set by the user or a game developer of the breeding game or thelike.

Alternatively, the processing unit 240 may recognize a regular sleeppattern of the user based on the sleep history and set the recognizedsleep pattern as the reference sleep pattern. Since sleep patternsdiffer from one individual to the next, setting a reference sleeppattern in accordance with each person based on the sleep historyenables the user to practice sleep habits that match the user'sconstitution without being strained.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of determination of thereference sleep pattern. An example of a criterion for determiningwhether or not a sleep pattern satisfies the reference sleep patternwill be described with reference to FIG. 6.

In FIG. 6, an ordinate represents a time of day, an abscissa representsa date, the reference bedtime is set to 21 o'clock, and the referencewake-up time is set to 7 o'clock. With sleep patterns 10 to 14, a sleeppattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time is represented by aline.

The reference sleep pattern is set based on the reference bedtime andthe reference wake-up time (hereinafter, the reference bedtime and/orthe reference wake-up time may be described as a reference time) and anallowance may be added to a time slot of the reference sleep patternwithin a range in which a minimum sleep time is secured. In the exampleshown in FIG. 6, an allowance is added as a range from 30 minutes beforethe reference time to 15 minutes after the reference time. The allowanceadded to the reference time may differ between before and after thereference time. For example, from the perspective of promoting going tobed early and getting up early, the allowance added to the time slotbefore the reference time is set to be longer than after the time slot.In addition, a setting of the minimum sleep time may be changedaccording to the age of the user. For example, settings such as 7 hoursfor an adult and 10 hours for a child may be made by the user or adeveloper of the game.

In the sleep patterns 10 to 12, the bedtime is included in the referencebedtime (time slot) and the wake-up time is also included in thereference wake-up time (time slot). Therefore, the processing unit 240determines that the sleep patterns 10 to 12 satisfy the reference sleeppattern.

On the other hand, in the sleep pattern 13, while the bedtime is 21o'clock and satisfies the reference bedtime, the wake-up time is after7:15 and does not satisfy the reference wake-up time. Therefore, theprocessing unit 240 determines that the sleep pattern 13 does notsatisfy the reference sleep pattern.

In the sleep pattern 14, while the wake-up time is between 7 o'clock and7:15 and satisfies the reference wake-up time, the bedtime is after21:15 and does not satisfy the reference bedtime. Therefore, theprocessing unit 240 determines that the sleep pattern 14 does notsatisfy the reference sleep pattern.

As described above, the processing unit 240 determines whether or not asleep pattern satisfies the reference sleep pattern.

When the sleep data acquired from the user terminal 100 suggests that,conceivably, a problem has occurred in sensing by the user terminal 100such as sleep time being fragmented or sleep time not being detected,the processing unit 240 may assume a sleep pattern based on an amount ofdaytime activity of the user such as the number of steps taken by theuser. For example, when the processing unit 240 determines that aproblem has occurred in sensing by the user terminal 100, the processingunit 240 acquires sensing data related to the amount of activity of theuser from the user terminal 100. In addition, when the amount ofactivity of the user on a given day is an average amount of activity ofthe user, an average sleep pattern that is calculated based on aprevious sleep history of the user is assumed. Accordingly, even when aproblem occurs in the detection of sleep data, implementing such arelief measure prevents the breeding game from progressing in andisadvantageous manner to the user.

Returning now to FIG. 5, in step S503, the processing unit 240determines whether or not the sleep pattern based on the sleep historystored in the sleep history 231 satisfies the reference sleep patternor, in other words, whether or not the sleep pattern of the sleep datahaving been acquired from the user terminal 100 satisfies the referencesleep pattern, and when it is determined that the sleep pattern does notsatisfy the reference sleep pattern (N in step S503), in step S504, theprocessing unit 240 executes a processing step of generating a negativeevent in the breeding game and causes a processing result to be storedin the game information 232 of the storage unit 230. Details of eventsin the breeding game will be provided later.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the sleep patternsatisfies the reference sleep pattern (Y in step S503), in step S505,the processing unit 240 determines whether or not the sleep patterncontinuously satisfies the reference sleep pattern for a predeterminedperiod or more based on the sleep history. When it is determined thatthe sleep pattern based on the sleep history does not satisfy thereference sleep pattern for a predetermined period or more (N in stepS505), in step S506, the processing unit 240 executes a processing stepof generating a positive event in the breeding game and causes aprocessing result to be stored in the game information 232 of thestorage unit 230. When it is determined that the sleep pattern based onthe sleep history satisfies the reference sleep pattern for apredetermined period or more (Y in step S505), in step S507, theprocessing unit 240 executes a processing step of generating a bonusevent that differs from the positive event in the breeding game andcauses a processing result to be stored in the game information 232 ofthe storage unit 230.

As the predetermined period, for example, the user may set an arbitrarynumber of days such as three days or a week. By having the user set thepredetermined period for generating a bonus event by himself/herself,the predetermined period can be used as a goal to strive for in terms ofcontinuing good sleep habits, and generating a bonus event can impart asense of achievement to the user.

In addition, the developer of the game may set the predetermined periodas an internal parameter of the game. The user can stay motivated towardpracticing good sleep habits while waiting expectantly for a bonus eventto occur and, by generating the bonus event, a sense of surprise as wellas a sense of satisfaction can be imparted to the user.

In step S508, the processing unit 240 transmits processing in the gameas game information to the user terminal 100 via the communicating unit210 and ends the processing.

The processing unit 240 may generate a mini-game in addition togenerating the respective events described above. Causing the user toplay the mini-game prevents the user from falling back to sleep. Themini-game requires the user to perform some kind of task. For example,as an aspect of the mini-game, a game that requires the user to performan operation that involves actually moving his/her body is preferablesuch as a mini-game for arousing, playing with, or petting the virtuallife form by shaking the terminal itself or tapping or swiping thedisplay or a mini-game that enables the user to capture the virtual lifeform by standing up and taking a predetermined number of steps.Accordingly, an effect of reliably waking up the user can be expected.

Furthermore, the mini-game may be configured to be played within apredetermined time from a time of occurrence of each event. Providing anincentive such as giving points (to be described later) when themini-game is completed can be used as motivation to not fall back tosleep.

FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams for explaining examples of events in thebreeding game. Examples of a positive event, a bonus event, and anegative event in the breeding game will now be described with referenceto FIGS. 7 to 9. The processing unit 240 may be configured to changecontents of each event in accordance with a random number result thatcorresponds to acquired sleep data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a positive event. The positiveevent is an event for causing the breeding game to progress in anadvantageous manner which occurs when the sleep pattern of the usersatisfies the reference sleep pattern. For example, the positive eventis one or more of an event that enables the virtual life form to grow,an event for adding points related to the virtual life form, and anevent for giving items or privileges in the breeding game.

Examples of enabling the virtual life form to grow include, but are notlimited to, making the virtual life form appear larger, making thevirtual life form appear stronger, making the virtual life form morebeautiful or handsome, causing the virtual life form to change from achild to an adult, causing the virtual life form to evolve, and causingthe virtual life form to mature internally.

In addition, the points may be experience points of the virtual lifeform or in-game currency for purchasing items in the game. Based on avalue of the points, a level of the virtual life form may be determinedor various virtual life forms may be introduced. The positive event canprovide the user with an incentive toward maintaining the referencesleep pattern.

In FIG. 7, a character A that is a virtual life form acquires experiencepoints (which correspond to points) and improves its level (whichcorresponds to growing) in accordance with the sleep pattern of the usersatisfying the reference sleep pattern. In other words, the character Agrows when the sleep pattern of the user satisfies the reference sleeppattern. Accordingly, by practicing good sleep habits, the user cancause the breeding game to progress while enjoying the growing processof the character A.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a bonus event. The bonus eventis an event for causing the breeding game to progress in a particularlyadvantageous manner which occurs when the sleep pattern based on thesleep history satisfies the reference sleep pattern for a predeterminedperiod or more. Examples of the bonus event include, but are not limitedto, an event for facilitating the growth of the virtual life form, anevent for adding points related to the virtual life form as a bonus, andan event for giving items or privileges that cause the breeding game toprogress in an advantageous manner. For example, another aspect of thebonus event is an event in which the character leaves a new virtual lifeform with the user for the user to grow. By growing the virtual lifeform on the character's behalf, the user can receive a message ofgratitude from the character or be awarded points or the like.

In addition, the user may be notified of an occurrence of the bonusevent in advance. This can be used as motivation to continuously stickto the reference sleep pattern. Expectations of the user toward anoccurrence of the bonus event can be built up by notifying the user of,for example, an introduction of a new virtual life form, addition ofpoints, or the like on the following Sunday. The bonus event can providethe user with an incentive toward maintaining the reference sleeppattern for a predetermined period or more.

In FIG. 8, in accordance with the sleep pattern of the user satisfyingthe reference sleep pattern for a predetermined period or more, thevirtual life form acquires experience points in an amount equal to orgreater than an amount acquired by a positive event and improves itslevel significantly. In addition, an item (a reward) that causes thebreeding game to progress in an advantageous manner is awarded. The itemis endowed with a special effect such as making the level of the virtuallife form more easily improved or causing other virtual life forms toappear when the item is used to put the virtual life form to sleep.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a negative event. The negativeevent is an event for causing the breeding game to progress in adisadvantageous manner which occurs when the sleep pattern of the userdoes not satisfy the reference sleep pattern. Examples of the negativeevent include, but are not limited to, stopping the growth of thevirtual life form, causing the virtual life form to devolve, making thevirtual life form weaker, and subtracting points related to the virtuallife form. For example, as another aspect of the negative event, when (alength of) the sleep time of the user is shorter than a time determinedbased on the reference time, a rate of breeding may be made slower bymaking the virtual life form appear to be drowsy during the day or thelike. In other words, when the user is deprived of sleep, growth of thevirtual life form is inhibited as long as the user stays awake. Thenegative event can cause the user to maintain the reference sleeppattern and become conscious of practicing good sleep habits.

In FIG. 9, the character A that is a virtual life form is unable toacquire experience points and its level has not been improved inaccordance with the sleep pattern of the user not satisfying thereference sleep pattern. In addition, the character A may be endowedwith a special effect causing the character A to appear out of sorts byconsuming (subtracting) points indicating a degree of health or avitality level related to the character A.

As described above, processing related to the breeding game is executedas shown in, for example, FIGS. 7 to 9 based on a sleep pattern.

In the breeding game, a degree of difficulty may be set to putting thevirtual life form to sleep. For example, at the start of the breedinggame, a virtual life form of which a degree of difficulty of putting thevirtual life form to sleep is low may be bred and a level of the virtuallife form may be set so as to be readily improvable. Accordingly, thebreeding game can be readily enjoyed and can lead to a well-regulatedsleep pattern.

In addition, the degree of difficulty of putting the virtual life formto sleep may be increased as the breeding game progresses. In otherwords, since it becomes difficult to improve the level of the virtuallife form, the user can be made conscious of causing an occurrence of apositive event or a bonus event for improving the level and the user canbe prompted to continue a well-regulated sleep pattern.

Furthermore, game characteristics may be enhanced by having the userbreed a plurality of virtual life forms and setting a degree ofdifficulty of putting one of the virtual life forms to sleep so as toaffect a degree of difficulty of putting another virtual life form tosleep. For example, when the user is awake past the reference bedtime, avirtual life form of which a degree of difficulty of putting the virtuallife form to sleep is high is introduced and the virtual life form thatis being bred is made less susceptible to falling asleep (in otherwords, a degree of difficulty of putting the virtual life form to sleepis increased). Since the introduction of a virtual life form of which adegree of difficulty of putting the virtual life form to sleep is highcauses the degree of difficulty of putting the virtual life form that iscurrently being bred to sleep to increase, the user can be madeconscious toward going to bed so as not to exceed the reference bedtime.Accordingly, the user can continuously enjoy the game and, by extension,the user can be motivated to continue a well-regulated sleep pattern.

(Description of Advantageous Effect)

The game system according to the present embodiment executes processingsteps related to a breeding game based on sleep data including a sleeppattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user. Since awell-regulated lifestyle practiced by the user leads to breeding avirtual life form, the user can stay motivated toward practicing goodsleep habits while enjoying breeding the virtual life form.

In addition, the game system according to the present embodimentgenerates various events in the breeding game in accordance with thesleep pattern. Generating different events enables the user to enjoy thegame without becoming bored and, at the same time, an incentive towardspracticing good sleep habits can be imparted to the user.

Second Embodiment

A game system according to a second embodiment further acquires ahistory of positional information of a user when a jet lag is detectedfrom sleep data and, based on the history of positional information,adds mileage of an airline or the like as points with respect to avirtual life form.

Since organs inside a human body operate in a metronomic rhythm, when along-distance movement is performed in a short period of time fortravel, business purposes, or the like, the rhythm is disrupted by atime difference and causes a change in physical conditions, and maysometimes result in deteriorated physical conditions such as aninability to sleep at night. In such a case, since jet lag causes asleep pattern to significantly deviate from the reference sleep pattern,a negative event is generated in the breeding game and takes awaymotivation from the user who has been practicing good sleep habits up tothen. The present embodiment enables even a user having experienced ajet lag to enjoy the breeding game.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a game system 2. The game system 2according to the second embodiment includes a user terminal 300 and agame server 200 which are connected to be capable of communicating witheach other via a network NW. While only one user terminal 300 is shownin FIG. 10, in the present embodiment, the game system 2 includes aplurality of user terminals 300 of which each is provided for each user.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of the user terminal 300. The user terminal 300 accordingto the second embodiment differs in configuration from the user terminal100 according to the first embodiment in that the user terminal 300includes a positional information detecting unit 155. Alternatively, theuser terminal 300 according to the present embodiment may be configuredby omitting a part of components (respective units) shown in FIG. 11.

The positional information detecting unit 155 detects a position of theuser terminal 300. In the present embodiment, the positional informationdetecting unit 155 detects a position using a GNSS (Global NavigationSatellite System). For example, the positional information detectingunit 155 is a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor (for example, a GPSmodule). It should be noted that a position detection method that isemployed by the positional information detecting unit 155 is arbitraryand, for example, the positional information detecting unit 155 maydetect a position using a beacon. In addition, for example, when theuser terminal 300 includes a function comparable to a contactless ICcard that is used at station ticketing gates, stores, and the like (orwhen the user terminal 300 includes a function of reading a history of acontactless IC card), the positional information detecting unit 155records a position where the user terminal 300 had been used togetherwith information to the effect that a transaction of a train fare or thelike was made at a station. The positional information detecting unit155 may detect this information and acquire the information aspositional information. In addition, for example, when the user terminal300 communicates with a specific access point, the positionalinformation detecting unit 155 may detect acquirable positionalinformation from the access point. Furthermore, the positionalinformation detecting unit 155 may detect a position at which the userterminal 300 is estimated to be present based on identificationinformation (such as an IP address) upon the user terminal 300connecting to the Internet.

The positional information detecting unit 155 transmits the detectedpositional information to the game server 200 via the communicating unit110. The positional information may be accumulated for a predeterminedperiod in the user terminal 300 and transmitted to the game server 200as a history of positional information or positional information may betransmitted every time positional information is detected. The gameserver 200 stores the positional information acquired from the userterminal 300 as a history of positional information.

The processing unit 240 of the game server 200 detects a jet lag basedon a sleep pattern of sleep data transmitted from the user terminal 300which is stored in the sleep history 231.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a detection example of a jet lag.FIG. 12 shows sleep patterns 20 to 25. The sleep patterns 20 to 23 aresleep patterns that satisfy the reference sleep pattern. On the otherhand, in the sleep pattern 24, both a bedtime and a wake-up time deviatesignificantly from the reference time. In addition, in the sleep pattern25, the reference sleep pattern is not satisfied and falling asleep andwaking up are repeated in a discontinuous manner.

When a sleep pattern that clearly differs from the sleep pattern of aprior sleep history is detected as described above, the processing unit240 may determine that a jet lag has occurred. In addition, a sleeppattern to be a criterion for determining a jet lag may be stored inadvance, an input to the effect that the user has performed along-distance movement including a time difference may be accepted fromthe user, or an occurrence of a jet lag may be determined when along-distance movement is detected from a history of positionalinformation having been transmitted from the user terminal 300.

Upon detecting a jet lag, the processing unit 240 of the game server 200calculates a travel distance of the user terminal 300 based on a historyof positional information acquired from the user terminal 300. Inaddition, the processing unit 240 adds a mileage in accordance with thetravel distance (miles) as points with respect to a virtual life form inthe breeding game. Mileage refers to a point program implemented byairlines. A mile refers to a unit of points in the point program. Byincorporating a concept of mileage into the breeding game, even when anegative event is generated due to a disruption in sleep habits causedby a jet lag, the user can cause the breeding game to progress in anadvantageous manner using the added points and, at the same time,motivation for returning to good sleep habits can be provided.

Alternatively, in order to promptly improve the jet lag of the user, theprocessing unit 240 may add points in accordance with time after theoccurrence of the jet lag and until the user returns to a well-regulatedsleep pattern. Accordingly, the user can be further motivated to returnto good sleep habits.

Third Embodiment

In a game system according to a third embodiment, sleep data includesinformation related to quality of sleep of a user. By causing thebreeding game to progress based on sleep data including informationrelated to the quality of sleep, the user's consciousness towardpracticing better sleep habits can be raised.

In this case, information related to the quality of sleep refers to atime of each sleep stage in a sleep cycle or a ratio of each sleep stageto sleep time. Examples of information related to the quality of sleepinclude a time or ratio of “awakening”, “light sleep”, “deep sleep”, and“REM sleep” which are the respective sleep stages of a sleep cycle.

In the third embodiment, a user terminal calculates information relatedto sleep of the user from biological data of the user having beendetected by a sensor unit. The information related to sleep of the usermay be calculated by adopting a known function for analyzing sleep of anexisting multifunctional device that functions as the user terminal.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of information related tothe quality of sleep. In FIG. 13, a sleep result 31 is displayed withrespect to a sleep pattern 30. For example, the user can confirm thesleep result 31 by selecting the sleep pattern 30.

The sleep result 31 includes a sleep time calculated from the sleeppattern 30 and a ratio of each sleep stage to the sleep time. (“Other”refers to, for example, a time including a state where a sleep stage isindeterminate, an awakened state despite being in bed, and the like).

In addition, the sleep result 31 may include a good sleep score that isan index indicating whether sleep is good or not based on the sleepstage. The good sleep score may be calculated by weighting each sleepstage and using an arbitrary algorithm created by a game developer.Alternatively, the good sleep score may be calculated in accordance withan amount of activity, diet, a location, humidity, an operation time ofa user terminal, an operation time slot of the user terminal, and thelike. For example, when a location of a highly-acclaimed hotel (such asa five-star hotel) is detected as the positional information of the userterminal, the good sleep score may be added on the assumption that goodsleep is likely to be provided. In addition, for example, the good sleepscore may be reduced when the user terminal is operated after thereference bedtime. The good sleep score enables the user to recognize,in one glance, whether or not the user had a good night's sleep andmotivates the user to practice good sleep habits.

The game server may adopt the good sleep score as a parameter thataffects the progress of the breeding game. Examples include, but are notlimited to, causing the virtual life form to change, generating anevent, and adding points or privileges.

Adopting the good sleep score as a parameter that affects the progressof the breeding game enables the user's consciousness toward practicinggood sleep habits to be raised and, at the same time, provides the userwith further motivation toward becoming actively involved in thebreeding game.

Fourth Embodiment

A user terminal according to a fourth embodiment executes a game programstored in a storage unit to cause a user to play a breeding game of avirtual life form based on sleep data of the user. A configuration maybe adopted in which the game program stored in the user terminal can beupdated via a network or a storage medium.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a user terminal 400. The user terminal 400 according tothe fourth embodiment corresponds to an information processing terminaland differs in configuration from the user terminal 300 according to thesecond embodiment (refer to FIG. 11) in that the user terminal 400includes a storage unit 440 and a processing unit 460. However, sinceother components denoted by same reference signs have common functions,repetitive descriptions thereof will be omitted. Alternatively, the userterminal 400 according to the present embodiment may be configured byomitting a part of components (respective units) shown in FIG. 14.

The storage unit 440 is a storage apparatus for storing a program andvarious kinds of data that cause a computer to function. The storageunit 440 includes a sleep history 441 and game information 442.

The sleep history 441 functions as a sleep history storage unit andaccumulates sleep data of the user calculated by the processing unit 460to be described later or, in other words, a sleep pattern indicating abedtime and a wake-up time of the user. The game information 442 storesinformation related to the breeding game of the virtual life form.Alternatively, the storage unit 440 may include a temporary storage areaor a storage. In addition, the storage unit 440 may be configured tostore sensing data having been detected by the sensor unit 150.

The processing unit 460 executes various kinds of information processingto be executed in the user terminal 400. The processing unit 460 has aCPU and a memory, and various kinds of information processing areexecuted by having the CPU use the memory to execute an informationprocessing program stored in the storage unit 440. In the presentembodiment, as the information processing described above, theprocessing unit 460 executes a processing step of calculating a sleeppattern and a processing step related to the breeding game based on asleep pattern in the sleep history. In addition, the processing unit 460may execute a processing step related to the breeding game based onvarious kinds of information having been detected by the sensor unit150. A processing result related to the breeding game is output to theoutput unit 130. Alternatively, the processing unit 460 may performprogress processing of the breeding game in accordance with a randomnumber result that corresponds to the calculated sleep data.Furthermore, the processing unit 460 acquires a present time and dateusing a system clock.

As described above, the user terminal according to the presentembodiment can provide a breeding game of a virtual life form based onsleep data of a user. Accordingly, the user can enjoy the breeding gameeven in an environment in which the user is unable to connect to a gameserver via a network.

The embodiments described above can be implemented in various otherforms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can bemade without departing from the gist of the invention. It is to beunderstood that such embodiments and modifications thereof are includedin the scope and gist of the invention and are also included in theinvention as set forth in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

In addition, as a program (software means) that can be executed by acomputer, the methods described in the embodiments presented above canbe stored in a storage medium such as magnetic disk (a flexible disk, ahard disk, or the like), an optical disc (a CD-ROM, a DVD, an MO, or thelike), or a semiconductor memory (a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, or thelike) and can be distributed by being transmitted from a communicationmedium. The program stored in the medium includes a configurationprogram that constructs, inside a computer, software means (alsoincluding tables and data structures in addition to an executableprogram) to be executed by the computer. The computer that realizes thepresent server reads the program stored in the storage medium and, insome cases, constructs the software means using the configurationprogram, and executes the processing steps described earlier by havingthe software means control operations. It should be noted that the term“storage medium” as used in the present specification is not limited tothose intended to be distributed and also includes storage media such asa magnetic disk and a semiconductor memory provided inside the computeror in a device being connected via a network.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus that managesprogress of a breeding game of a virtual life form to be executed on auser terminal, the information processing apparatus comprising:circuitry configured to acquire sleep data that at least includes asleep pattern constituted by a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user;store the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update thebreeding game based on the sleep pattern stored as the sleep history. 2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to determine an event to be generated inthe breeding game in accordance with whether or not the sleep patternsatisfies a first condition.
 3. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured togenerate, when the sleep pattern satisfies the first condition, an eventwhich causes the breeding game to progress more advantageously ascompared to a case where the first condition is not satisfied.
 4. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein circuitryfor storing the acquired sleep data as sleep history is furtherconfigured to store a set reference sleep pattern, and the circuitry isfurther configured to determine the event to be generated by comparingthe sleep pattern of the sleep history with the reference sleep pattern.5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, whereinthe circuitry is further configured to recognize a regular sleep patternof the user based on the sleep history and store the recognized sleeppattern as the reference sleep pattern.
 6. The information processingapparatus according to claim 5, wherein satisfying the first conditionincludes the sleep pattern satisfying the reference sleep pattern, thecircuitry is configured to generate a specific event in the breedinggame when a period or the number of times in which the sleep patternsatisfies the reference sleep pattern satisfies a second condition, andthe circuitry configured to generate the specific event is furtherconfigured to generate the specific event without notifying the userthat the specific event is to be generated prior to generating thespecific event.
 7. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate, as thespecific event, an event which causes the breeding game to progress moreadvantageously than an event to be generated when the first condition issatisfied.
 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,wherein the circuitry is further configured to give the user a gameparameter for breeding the virtual life form by accepting an operationfor executing an event to be generated when the first condition issatisfied from the user, and give the user another virtual life form tobe an object of breeding by generating the specific event.
 9. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 5, whereinsatisfying the first condition includes the sleep pattern satisfying thereference sleep pattern, the circuitry is further configured to generatea specific event in the breeding game when a period or the number oftimes the sleep pattern satisfies the reference sleep pattern satisfiesa second condition, and the circuitry for generating the specific eventis further configured to notify the user of a condition for generatingthe specific event prior to generating the specific event.
 10. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein thereference sleep pattern includes information of a bedtime to be areference, and the circuitry is further configured to cause the virtuallife form to move in response to a time of day approaching the bedtimeindicated in the reference sleep pattern before the time of day reachesthe bedtime.
 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim4, wherein the circuitry is further configured to store a referencebedtime for each user based on the sleep pattern as the reference sleeppattern, and control a display presentation in the breeding game withthe reference bedtime as a reference.
 12. The information processingapparatus according to claim 11, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to store, in association with each of a plurality of virtuallife forms that appear in the breeding game, a type of at least oneannouncement mode among a type of audio, a type of vibration, and a typeof light, and control the user terminal to make an announcement in atype of announcement mode that differs from the type of announcementmode associated with a virtual life form having been bred prior to theuser going to bed.
 13. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to acquireinformation related to a position of the user, and execute processingrelated to the breeding game based on the sleep pattern and theinformation related to the position of the user.
 14. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to store a history of positional information of theuser, and execute processing related to the breeding game based on atravel distance of the user as calculated in accordance with the historyof the positional information of the user when a comparison result of acomparison between the sleep history stored in the storage unit and theacquired sleep pattern satisfies a third condition.
 15. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to demonstrate an effect of causing the breeding gameto progress more advantageously the longer the travel distance of theuser.
 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14,wherein the circuitry is further configured to add, when the thirdcondition is satisfied but the sleep pattern does not satisfy the firstcondition, a game parameter to the user in accordance with a periodrequired by the sleep pattern to change from a state of not satisfyingthe first condition to a state of satisfying the first condition. 17.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theacquired sleep data includes information related to quality of sleep ofthe user, the information related to quality of sleep includesinformation of each sleep stage of a sleep cycle, and the circuitry isfurther configured to set a parameter that affects progress of thebreeding game to the user in accordance with a ratio of each sleep stageto the acquired sleep pattern.
 18. A computer readable medium includingcomputer program instructions for managing progress of a breeding gameof a virtual life form to be executed on a user terminal, which whenexecuted by an information processing system, cause the system to:acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep pattern constituted bya bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data asa sleep history; and update the breeding game based on the sleep patternstored as the sleep history.
 19. A method of managing progress of abreeding game of a virtual life form to be executed on a user terminal,the method comprising the steps of: acquiring sleep data that at leastincludes a sleep pattern constituted by a bedtime and a wake-up time ofa user; storing the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and updatingthe breeding game based on the sleep pattern stored as the sleephistory.
 20. A game system in which a user terminal and a game serverthat manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life form to beexecuted on the user terminal are connected to each other via a network,wherein the game server includes circuitry configured to: acquire sleepdata that at least includes a sleep pattern constituted by a bedtime anda wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data as a sleephistory; and update the breeding game based on the sleep pattern storedas the sleep history.
 21. An information processing terminal thatexecutes a breeding game of a virtual life form to be executed on a userterminal, the information processing terminal comprising: circuitryconfigured to acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep patternconstituted by a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store theacquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update the breeding gamebased on the sleep pattern stored as the sleep history.